Glanbia Co-op announces 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme

Glanbia Co-op announces 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme
New monthly payment to Members for 2020 milk supply

Glanbia Co-operative Society (“Glanbia Co-op”) has announced a new monthly payment for milk supplying Members and details of its 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme.

Glanbia Co-op owns 60% of Glanbia Ireland (“GI”) and receives a dividend each year which equates to 30% of the milk processor’s annual Profit-After-Tax (PAT). At the formation of GI in 2017, Members voted at a Special General Meeting (SGM) in Punchestown to ring-fence this dividend for distribution to active farmer Members of Glanbia Co-op.

In 2020, milk supplier Members of Glanbia Co-op will receive a 0.4 cent per litre (cpl) payment each month on all milk supplied as their “Share of GI Profit”. This payment to Members will be adjusted to reflect the actual constituents of the milk delivered.

Furthermore, Members will also have an to opportunity to participate in the 2020 Trading Bonus scheme.

Glanbia Chairman Martin Keane said:
“The combination of the new monthly “Share of GI Profit” payment and the 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme is an equitable, transparent and a more immediate means of returning the Co-op’s share of GI profit to our active farmer Members.”

The 2020 Glanbia Co-op policy is being outlined to shareholders at a series of nine information meetings which commenced across the Glanbia region on Tuesday 14 January.

2020 Trading Bonus Scheme

Meanwhile, Glanbia Co-op has announced details of the 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme, which will reward farmer Members of the Co-op for purchases made from Glanbia Ireland and its subsidiaries.

For milk supplier Members of Glanbia Co-op, the 2020 Trading Bonus is potentially worth up to 0.4 cent per litre (cpl) on all milk delivered in 2020 (Table 1). For grain growers, a Trading Bonus of up to €10 per tonne of grain supplied is available for 2020.

As shown in Table 1, the Milk Supplier Trading Bonus is worth up to €2,000 to a 500,000 litre supplier spending over 8 cpl with Glanbia Ireland this year. All qualifying 2020 purchases made from Glanbia Ireland are included in the calculation (purchases made through Purchasing Groups count at 50% for 2020).

At the end of 2020, the total spend will be divided by the total litres of milk delivered to generate a cent per litre input spend for each Member. The applicable Trading Bonus will be paid in February 2021.

Table 1: Glanbia Co-op 2020 Trading Bonus for Glanbia Ireland milk suppliers*

*VAT flat rate addition will be paid on milk supplied by non-VAT registered farmers who have confirmed their non-VAT registered status in writing to Glanbia at the rate applicable at the time of payment.
**The Share of GI Profit will be adjusted to reflect the actual constituents of the milk delivered by Members.

Feed Bonus

Beef, sheep and pig farmer customers of Glanbia Ireland that are Glanbia Co-op Members will also qualify for a Feed Bonus on their tonnes purchased this year.

• For non-milk suppliers, the 2020 Feed Trading Bonus will be €10 per tonne on Beef, Dairy and Sheep Feed products purchased from Glanbia Ireland;
• There is €3 per tonne available to qualifying Co-op Members on purchases of pig feed and straights;
• Eligibility for Feed Bonus payments is confined to non-milk suppliers in 2020 (all feed purchases continue to count towards a milk supplier’s total spend for the Milk Supplier Trading Bonus).

Commenting, Martin Keane, Chairman of Glanbia Co-operative Society, said:
“The 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme builds on the very successful Trading Bonus Scheme operated in 2018 and 2019. In the coming weeks, the 2019 Trading Bonus Scheme will return almost €14m to our active farmer shareholders. The Trading Bonus rewards our Members for trading with the business that they majority own, Glanbia Ireland. It is an equitable and transparent means of returning a share of Glanbia Ireland’s profit to active farmers.”

Member Admission criteria

The Council of Glanbia Co-op has approved a series of changes to the criteria for admission of new Members to the Society, as well as related matters.

Glanbia Co-op Chairman Martin Keane said that the main objectives of the changes are to:

• Encourage greater Co-op involvement among the “next generation” of farmers and;
• Ensure that Membership admission continues to be confined to persons “actively farming”.

The rules have been simplified to aid access with a requirement of 1,000 shares set for all new Members. Previously, the shareholding was set out at the higher level of 2,000 shares, or one share per 200 litres of milk.

The minimum shareholding required to become a member of the Glanbia representative structure has also been reduced to 1,000 shares. “This makes Committee membership more accessible to a greater number of A1 members,” Martin Keane said.

“The Board are keen to ensure there is a clear path for young, active farmers to join Glanbia Co-op and also to consider becoming involved in the representative structure of the Co-op.”

For Media Enquiries please contact:
Pat O’Keeffe, Glanbia Ireland 087-2414970.

First Published 15 January 2020